COUNTER has developed the standard to be used with the ANSI/NISO Z39.93-2014 protocol, called SUSHI, to retrieve usage data quickly.
Some publishers, those who were the very first to support COUNTER, understood the potential benefits to their industry of providing usage statistics to an agreed standard; others saw it as an unnecessary extra cost.
The result is a Code of Practice that aims to improve consistency, clarity, and flexibility, allowing for adaptation and extension as digital publishing evolves over the years.
[5] Current projects include the development of a Code of Practice for recording and reporting the usage of research data.
In 2019, usage of COUNTER statistics was integrated into Unsub, a web-based dashboard tool to improve the cost effectiveness of the institutions' subscription sets.
COUNTER is supervised by a Board of Directors and administered by an Executive Committee and Technical Advisory Group.